People are selling info products everywhere you look and many are making a living doing so.  In this day and age with technology where it is at, the barrier to entry is virtually non-existent.  If you have wanted to get started in info products but don’t have clue where to start then this article will help you to get the creative juices flowing.

Amazon – it’s not just a rain forest

Amazon is a place that nearly everyone knows of.  If you have not made a purchase there, then chances are good that you know someone who has.  It is also a great place to get your info product idea.  By simply checking the best sellers section you can find some of the best ideas to focus your product around.

By quickly browsing the site and checking the bestsellers in the health, mind and body section I can see that the top sellers are covering meditation.  If you were in this niche you could do a little research and create a short guide on meditation for beginners to giveaway or sell.  This is just ONE idea.  There are TONS of sections to browse through.

Comments

If you read articles or blogs online then you will find that some topics garner much more attention than others.  If you look at the most commented pieces you will find a hidden gem – your info product idea.  The most commented posts or articles are commented on because people have comments or questions regarding the subject.  Comments or questions means people like to talk about it and want to learn more about it.

What does that mean to you?  Well, that means that you can expect that topic to be a hot one in that given niche.  It is also a topic you can start your first info product with.  If there is a niche that you already enjoy learning about then start there.  The best product you can create from scratch will be about a subject you are already familiar with.

Google

That trusty old search engine holds TONS of ideas.  Just go ahead and enter any seed keyword into it and see all of the ideas that pop up.  Just for kicks let’s enter “Healthy Living.”  Already you can see ideas coming up.

Based on this search phrase you could create a product on Healthy Living Tips, Healthy Living for Women, Eco-Friendly health tips and simple ways to stay healthy.  And that was done in about a minute.  Imagine if you mined it for a few hours?  Imagine the ideas you could come up with.

As you can see, getting an idea for an info product is not as difficult as you may have thought.  In fact, you could probably come up with dozens of ideas in the next hour just using the three methods mentioned above.  If you want to get started in info product marketing and are looking for sales worthy ideas, then take a little time to do some research online.  You just may have your million dollar idea quicker than you think.

List building is a marketing activity that MUST be done if you plan on succeeding.  However, it can be a difficult to navigate.  Here are 10 Frequently Asked Questions about getting subscribers to your list that should help you along the way.

What’s a list?

A list is typically made up of subscribers in your given niche.  These subscribers could range from customers who have bought from you previously to others who simply subscribed to your newsletter.

How often should you mail to your list?

Mailing to your list depends on the niche.  Many mail every three days, while some mail weekly or even monthly.  Staying in regular contact with your list on a weekly basis should be a good rule of thumb to follow.

How often should you promote products to your list?

Not too often, as you don’t want your list to see you as primarily a seller.  A ratio of one promotional email to three informational emails should keep them from unsubscribing.

Which company should I use?

While there are free options out there, the paid variety will suit you best.  Aweber and Getresponse are always a safe bet, with others who offer about the same as well.  It all depends on your budget and needs.

Where should I get subscribers?

Anywhere it makes sense.  Put an opt-in box on your website, put a link to your opt-in page in your articles and place a link on your videos pointing back to your opt-in page.

Should I use my real name?

Again this depends.  If you are trying to brand your name then by all means use it.  If not, then use a pen name to protect your identity.

How do I handle angry subscribers?

Handle angry subscribers with as much patience possible.  Some people are quick to dump angry subscribers.  Hear what they have to say as it may help you to improve your business.

Will I get hit with being a SPAMMER?

You won’t be labeled a spammer as long as you utilize a double opt-in and send relevant messages.

What if I am not a good writer?

You don’t have to be a good writer to be an email marketer.  The beauty of it is you can hire a professional writer to create the messages for you.

When should I start building a list?

You should start building a list as soon as possible.  It should be one of the marketing activities that you do regularly.

List building is an activity that cannot be stressed enough.  You will find that many of your sales over time will come from your list members.  In fact, if your list members come to trust you as far as being an expert in your niche, you will find that sales letters to sell products to them won’t much matter.

You will find that most are buying from you or through your affiliate link based solely on your name recognition and the faith and trust they have put in you.  Don’t put off list building any longer – get started today.

Having the proper mindset when it comes to wealth creation is absolutely vital.  It really all starts with your frame of mind.  If you are not in the right frame of mind then you may as well not even try.  The easiest way to get into that “wealth” frame of mind is to follow others who already think this way.  Here is a list of 10 bloggers who will change your mind about wealth creation.

MJ Demarco

MJ speaks about the fast lane and how society has led us to believe that it takes a lifetime to accumulate wealth.  He did so in a short amount of time and his posts, while thought provoking will lead you down the fast lane of wealth creation. http://www.mjdemarco.com/

Leo Babauta

Leo runs Zen Habits which covers an entire approach of being wealthy in life – financially, physically and spiritually. http://zenhabits.net/

Eric Louviere

A straight shooter who tells is like it is, Eric’s advice may not be what you want to hear, BUT is it what you need to hear if you want to start making money online. http://ericlouviere.com/

Tony Robbins

The author of numerous bestselling books and blogs, if he can’t get you motivated to making money and reaching your goals then you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who can. http://training.tonyrobbins.com/

Gary Vaynerchuk

He may remind you of your college roommate or someone you would hang out with on the weekends, but make no mistake his no-nonsense approach, advice and work ethic will have you “crushing it.” http://garyvaynerchuk.com/

Thomas J. Stanley

The author of “The Millionaire Next Door” and “The Millionaire Mind,” when he talks about making money you had better listen up. http://www.thomasjstanley.com/blog.php

Tim Ferris

Another blogger who covers the gamut when it comes to being the best in all aspects of your life, the 4-hour week author can show you a thing or two about being financially free. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

Jason Fladlien

A popular internet marketer, Jason can teach you how you can blow past conventional thinking when it comes to the amount of time it takes to create products and create wealth. http://48hourreport.com/myblog/

Robert Kiyosaki

This bestselling author will have you thinking like his Rich Dad so you don’t live poor. http://www.richdad.com/Resources/Rich-Dad-Blog.aspx

Stephen Covey

Want to be highly motivated and highly successful?  Then check out his posts.  While it may have been a while since his last posting, you’ll find some real gems. https://www.stephencovey.com/blog/

This list of bloggers may be people you have never heard of, while the others are probably authors that you have known of for years.  The key to having the right mindset when it comes to wealth creation is to follow those who already have it and learning as much as you can from them.  This list of bloggers will help you to do just that.

The one thing that you will notice from most of them though, is the preaching of overall wealth when it comes to your life.  This means living a healthy life financially, physically and spiritually as well.  Absorb everything they have to say as it will pay off tenfold in your business life.

Traffic is the lifeblood of your blog.  Simply put without traffic your blog is really nonexistent.  While trying out the latest and greatest traffic generating fad is not to be looked down upon, what will serve you better is to follow bloggers who know how to drive traffic. Here’s a look at five traffic talking bloggers who should be on your RSS radar.

Ana Hoffman

Anna runs traffic generation cafe.  She has built her blog from the ground up and has gone from newbie to blogging superstar in a short amount of time.  Some of her posts have over 1000 comments, so you can be sure she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to traffic generation tips. You can find this blog at:  http://www.trafficgenerationcafe.com/

Viperchill.com

Viper chill is another site dedicated to traffic generation.  Their RSS feed alone carries over 18,000 readers.  Some of the topics discussed there are back link building and a SEO strategies, both of which I’m sure you already know to be tremendous ways to drive traffic to your site.  You can find this blog at:  http://www.viperchill.com/

Shoe money

Shoe money is one of the larger blogs online.  If you have been in Internet marketing for any amount of time then you’re already aware of this blog.  Not only will you learn about traffic generating strategies, you also will learn about building your business online to other topics such as website analytics.  You can find this blog:  http://www.shoemoney.com/

Pro Blogger

Darren Rowse is known the world over as a man who was at the forefront of making money by blogging.  If there was anyone to learn from on the topic of making money through blogging, then this would be him.  He covers basic topics such as how to build your dream blog to what you want your readers to do once they first arrive.  You’ll also find other traffic generation tips along the way. You can find this blog at:  http://www.problogger.net/

The Lazy Marketer

Chris Rempel is known as the lazy affiliate marketer.  He revolutionized the affiliate marketing world with his conduit site method.  While the methods may seem complicated, he teaches them in such a way that anyone can understand the strategies involved.  While he has invaluable traffic generation tips, you’ll also find yourself with tons of light bulbs going off after reading his posts.  You can find this blog at:  http://www.thelazymarketer.com/blog/

These bloggers offer different views of traffic generation.  However, the one thing that you will find that is common among them is that they started exactly where you are sitting right now.  They were once new to the blogging world as well, but took the time to put in the research and hard work to get their blogs to where they are today.

If you’re new to blogging or traffic generation in general it would serve you well to follow these five blogs.  Not only will you learn more about traffic generation, but you also learn more about building your blog and building your business online as well.

Many people start a blog with the best intentions, but when the reality of having to do regular updates kicks in, many tend to abandon them.  The cause for abandonment is usually a lack of topics to write about.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Here are four websites you probably already use that can provide you with endless blog post ideas.

Youtube – www.youtube.com

While you are spending your time viewing funny videos online, you may as well lookup some ideas for your blog.  Let’s say for example that I wrote a blog about freelance writing.  Going to YouTube and typing in “freelance writing” returns video titles that I could use as blog posts.  For example:

• Time management tips for freelance writers
• How to write a bid letter
• Advice for first time writers

Forums – www.forums.com

Forums are a great place to find topics and ideas for not only blog posts, but for products as well.  You can do a manual Google search yourself for forums or you can visit forums.com for more help.  By taking the term “freelance writing,” I am able to find numerous forums to choose from.  Titles of threads give me an abundant supply of blog post ideas; here are just a few of them:

• What a writer’s resume should look like
• How to get started as a writer
• How much to charge

Amazon – www.amazon.com

Amazon is a favorite for many online shoppers, but did you know that it is a favorite for many product creators and blog writers as well?  You can do a general search or search within the books section specifically to get ideas for your blog posts.  Using the search term “freelance writing” I am able to find many books.  By clicking on the link to see the table of contents within the book, I am able to immediately get topics.  Here are a few of them:

• Downsides of being a freelance writer
• Where to find clients
• How to market your services online

Article Directory Sites – www.ezinearticles.com

There are many article directory sites out there, but one of the most popular by far is Ezine Articles.  The search function on article directories will give you TONS of topic ideas from titles alone.  Using the phrase “freelance writing” at Ezine Articles yields the following blog post ideas:

• Where to find writing jobs
• Mistakes to avoid as a freelance writer
• How to write faster while maintaining quality

As you can see, maintaining a blog is not as tough as it may seem.  If you are struggling to find topic ideas for your posts, then check out the sites mentioned here to get your creative juices flowing.

If you are unable to find results for your given keyword, then try altering your keyword a bit to get more results.  For instance, if you find that “freelance writing” does not bring up results then try an alternative such as “ghost writing” or “writing services.”

Now you’ll never be at a loss for blog post ideas!

Creating a product around a topic that you are not an expert in can be a difficult undertaking.  In fact, you may find that it is an impossible task, but it really is not IF you know what to do.  Here are a few strategies to help you become an expert instantly.

Find someone who is an expert

What do you do when you don’t know the answer to something?  Find someone knowledgeable in that area and ask them for the answer.  If there is an expert in the topic area you wish to learn more about then contact them to see if they would be willing to create the product for you.  It will be much easier for that person to do the creation while you handle the rest.

In fact, Clickbank now allows vendors to pay another party through a joint venture contract. This means you set everything else up, while the expert creates the content.  It is a win-win situation and the nice thing is everyone gets paid a portion of the sales.  If you would much rather make all the money yourself then try the next strategy on for size.

Hire a professional product creator

If you look at some of the best selling products in the info product world, you may be shocked to learn that most of the owners of the products know little to nothing about the topic they are supposed experts in.  So how did they get that product created?

The answer is simple.  They hired a professional product creator to do it.  In layman’s terms they hired a ghost writer.  The writer does all of the research on the topic and creates the product.  In turn, that person gets paid an upfront fee or a portion of the sales.  It is really up to you.

Interview an expert

If you can’t find someone to create the product for you, or don’t have the money to spend then seek out an expert in the field.  You can ask to do a short interview in exchange for mentioning their name and website in your product.  You can easily research frequently asked question about the topic and record their answers.  From there you can create an info product that is either in audio or written format.

As you can see, you shouldn’t use a lack of knowledge in a given area as an excuse to not creating a product.  There are different ways around it and you could have a product done in your chosen niche in a matter of days if you really work at it.  When it comes to product creation strategies, all you need to know is how to use a computer.  Everything else from that point can be outsourced to someone else who has knowledge in your given niche.

Don’t put off creating your product just because you are not an expert.  Keep in mind that many best selling product owners probably didn’t even create their own product.  Stop making excuses and get going today.

Creating your own product is a great way to build a passive income stream.  However, it’s much easier said than done, so before you start planning an earlier retirement here are some of the challenges you will probably face along the way – and ways to overcome them.

1) Coming up with a topic.  This really isn’t as hard as it sounds.  An easy way to see if you have a topic that is sellable or not is to see if you have competition.  If others are creating products around the niche you are looking to get into and are making sales, then you should be able to do the same.

2) Format.  This all depends on you.  Do you like to write?  Would you rather speak and record than type?  Would you feel more comfortable in front of a camera?  Create your product in a format you feel most comfortable with, whether that is written, audio or video, it’s entirely up to you.

3) Where to get content.  There are lots of great resources out there.  Some of the best places to get information for your product are your public library and forums in your niche.

4) Actual product creation.  Creating a plan of action or outline is the best way to do this.  If you don’t have a layout of how your content will get created or flow, then you could easily take months to get it done. Do yourself a favor and create a table of contents if you plan on writing or a script if you are recording.

5) Price point.  This is a sticking point for many.  Take a look at the products in your niche that are in the same format you are creating yours and price accordingly.

6) Sales copy.  If you plan on doing this yourself then following the AIDA formula is the easiest way to do it.  AIDA is an acronym that breaks down sales copy into four easy sections.  Section 1 – Grabs readers’ attention, Section 2 – Creates interest. Section 3 – Creates desire and Section 4 – gives a call to action.  Don’t want to do it?  If so, you can outsource easily.

7) Payment processor.  Don’t get stuck too long on this.  Use what you already have.  Nearly everyone has Paypal so if you have it then use it.  Creating “buy now” buttons is simple and you can find many video tutorials online to walk you through the process.

8) Getting testimonials.  It would be great if the first few people that buy your product leave you testimonials, but it just won’t happen.  Give your product away for free to a few people to garner some testimonials to place on your sales page.

9) Pen name or real name.  If you feel comfortable using your name and would like to brand yourself in your niche then use your real name.  If you are trying to brand a pen name then use that one.

10) Product delivery.  There are many schools of thought on this.  You can use a secure service like download guard, but if you are short on cash then e-junkie will do just fine.  It is only a few dollars a month and you can be up and running in no time.

While it can be challenging to create a product, tackling the obstacles head on and overcoming them will make things much easier for you.  Overcome the top ten challenges listed here and get your product on the market.

The road to becoming a super affiliate can be challenging, but also extremely profitable.  Long before you can start to enjoy the passive income, there are several things you will need to become extremely good at.  Keep in mind that you will be able to outsource some of these things should you have the funds to do so.  Here are the key steps to keep in mind to becoming a super affiliate.

Step 1:  Learn How To Build A Great House Or Pay Someone Else To Do It

Take a look at some of the larger affiliate sites online.  The one thing that you immediately notice is how clean and professional they look.  If you are thinking of doing any type of affiliate marketing online then it would serve you well to learn how to create a professional website.  Or at the very least, pay someone else to create it for you.

Content management systems such as self-hosted WordPress sites can make the novice affiliate marketer look like they have been doing this for years.  WordPress has A TON of themes you can choose from and tweak to suit your niche.  The designs and easy set-up of these themes make them an ideal choice for affiliate marketers.  There is a bit of a learning curve, but you will find it can be easily done with a few how-to guides and videos found free of charge online.

There are also some great drag and drop website builders online that will make this process much easier for you.  Some of these programs are Weebly and Homestead.  The key is not to have a site that looks like it was designed by a three year old – black text on a clean white background that is filled with more content and fewer advertisements will do just fine.

Step 2:  Build Other Smaller Houses

Building your affiliate website is critical to making sales and becoming a super affiliate, but don’t just leave the burden to build up your readership on just one site.  You can build out smaller sites to build your list and link back to your main affiliate site.  These sites won’t cost you a dime and each one can be built in a matter of hours.

One type of site that you can build is a free blog.  WordPress and Blogger will allow you to build free blogs on their platform.  Just be cautious of the type of content that you put up as they can close your account if they see it as being too promotional.  You can also create other mini-sites using social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.  When it comes to affiliate marketing, the more sources of traffic you can put out there the better, just be cautious when it comes to the type of content you create and post.

Step 3:  Master Conversion Strategies

I have put this step before traffic strategies because I think it is important to highlight conversion strategies first.  What you don’t want to happen is to send A LOT of traffic to a site that doesn’t convert very well.  Imagine sending thousands of visitors to a website to sign up for a free gift and have only a handful of them actually do it.

Conversion strategies involve copywriting.  All the content that goes into your site should be evaluated.  If you are looking to create content to warm prospects up and pre-sell them, then be sure that your content is doing just that.  If a specific page is meant to get people to opt-in to an email list, then make sure that your offer is outstanding and that the headline, benefits and copy is extremely persuasive as well.

Another area you will need to also look at when it comes to conversion strategies is your email marketing messages.  Keep them dry and uninformative and you won’t sell anyone on anything.  Keep them punchy and information filled and readers will be looking for the “buy” button quicker than you think.  Luckily for you, this step can also be outsourced to a writer if you can afford to do so.

Step 4:  Learn The Basics Of Traffic Generation

You can’t go by the old saying – “If you build it they will come.”  What you need to do is learn the basics of traffic generation.  This starts off with getting your site ranked highly in the search engines for your desired keywords.  Basic on page and off page search engine optimization (SEO) will help get your site in front of your target audience, but don’t stop there.

You can also promote your affiliate sites through other traffic channels.  For example, you can upload videos to video sharing sites within your niche.  Let’s say that your niche is gardening.  What you could do is upload videos of yourself showing people how to do things such as pruning hedges or how to choose gardening equipment.

You can also do this with article directory marketing by writing about your niche topic and submitting to article directory sites.  Add in a press release or two and you have the foundation for a very strong traffic generation campaign.  There are other traffic sources you can look at, but some are more powerful than others for specific niches so doing your research here will help out tremendously.

Step 5: Building Relationships

Building relationships is a big key to becoming a super affiliate.  There are specific relationships that you need to build if you plan on achieving any level of success in affiliate marketing.  The first relationship you need to build is with your visitors and subscribers.  You can do this by providing quality content and information for them.  When you build your opt-in list of subscribers be sure to offer something of high value as well.  Your messages to your readers should contain information that they are opting in for.

For instance, if you are sending messages on gardening then don’t start sending messages on soccer.  Also, pay attention to any emails and questions you get from your readers.  Responding to them could mean the difference between keeping them and losing them.

The next relationship that you must build is with the product owners you are promoting for.  In most cases you will be working with the affiliate manager and not the actual owner of the product.  By getting to know the people behind the product, you may be given information that the average affiliate is not.  Affiliate managers and product owners want to make more sales, so it makes sense to help their affiliates to do just that.  If you are making more sales than the average affiliate then it just makes sense for them to give you as much guidance as possible in promoting their products.  Besides, the more sales you make the more money they make.

The last relationship you will need to build is with others in your general niche area.  These types of individuals are sometimes called Joint Venture (JV) partners.  If you have something of high value such as a short report you created for your niche, then you can approach others in your niche area to promote your short report to their list of subscribers in exchange for promoting their offer to your list.

This is a win-win situation for all as you both can offer high value products to your subscribers and can gain new subscribers through this cross promotion.  You can also offer to become a guest writer on their blog or site in exchange for a link back to your own site.  The more relationships you can build within your industry, the greater your chances will become to make more sales and become a super affiliate.

Conclusion

These steps do not include product selection, as that is dependent on each individual and the product that you feel comfortable promoting.  One thing to look at when selecting a product are refund rates, the sales copy and the actual product.  Once you are comfortable with all three areas, you can then put this entire plan into action.  In some cases you will be able to request a review copy from the product owner instead of having to actually purchase it.

While there are a few other things you can do to put yourself on the path to super affiliate stardom, taking these five steps into account will put you on the fast track to success.  You can take a huge short cut by outsourcing some of these tasks, but to truly become a super affiliate there are some things that you simply cannot outsource such as building relationships.

To become a super affiliate remember these steps: Build sites that are visually pleasing as well as ones that provide quality content, learn how to convert your visitors into subscribers or buyers, learn how to drive traffic to your sites and build relationships within your niche.  Once you have gotten these things down then all it comes down to is time.  Follow these steps over a little bit of time and you will find yourself ranking as a super affiliate before you know it.

Starting and maintaining a blog can be a fun and profitable activity for most marketers, but it can be a painful undertaking if there is no one reading what you have to write.  Here are five traffic generating freebies for bloggers that will help you to get started.

Free e-books

You may be asking yourself what can a free e-book do for my traffic?  Well the answer is it can do a whole lot.  Think of it this way – you create a free e-book in your given niche with links within the e-book back to your own site.  Now, by uploading your free e-book to the various free e-book sites online, you are virtually guaranteed traffic from those who download your e-book.  The more it gets distributed, the more traffic you can count on.

WordPress plug-ins

If you’re new to blogging, then I would highly suggest using WordPress as your blogging platform.  The main reason is the availability of free plug-ins.  These plug-ins are applications that you can use within your blog and range from simple contact forms to traffic generating machines.  One such plug-in is social marker, which bookmarks your site to dozens of social networks.

YouTube videos

YouTube videos are a great way to garner traffic.  And the best part is you don’t have to be a professional director to create these videos.  You could easily do one sitting in front of your home video camera or can get a bit more technical using screen capture software and a microphone. However you choose to do so, you can expect to get traffic to your site from the viewers watching your videos.

Free press release sites

Press releases have long been a great way for businesses to get noticed. Recently they have been a great way for websites to get more traffic.  By simply doing a search online for free press release sites, you will be able to find tons of different sites that will allow you to upload a press release for free.  Many of these sites are picked up by the bigger search engines which means more free traffic to your blog.

Article directory sites

Article directory sites are traffic generating machines.  Search engines love them for the unique content they provide and in return authors are given a proprietary link back to their site.  This means you can create a simple 500 word article with a link back to your own blog.  Readers who enjoy your article will most likely click on the link and check out your blog.  A few well-written articles placed on various article directories could bring in hundreds of daily visitors.

As you can see, the five simple free methods mentioned above could become traffic generating machines for you over time.  Take the time to learn more about free e-books, WordPress plug-ins, YouTube videos, free press release sites and article directory sites as they could bring you thousands of daily visitors at no cost to you.  In addition to your blogging, be sure to drive traffic to your sites so you can get eyeballs on those offers and posts.

High value products are a great way to start making sales in your niche, to give away as an incentive to build your list and to give away to your list from time to time.  There are really only two ways to create high value products – either have someone else do it OR do it yourself.  If you have the money to outsource then great!  However, if you are not so lucky and need to do it yourself then this blueprint is all you need to get started.  Here are five easy steps you can follow to get your high value product created quickly.

Step 1: Cherry Pick The Forums

The saying “cherry pick” means to take the best of something.  In sports it typically means someone looking for an easy score.  Well, in this step that is exactly what you will be doing – cherry picking the forums in your niche to get the best information.  For example, let’s say that you are in the woodworking niche.  When you go to Google and type in “Woodworking Forums” a forum named “Woodworking Talk” comes up as the first result.  After visiting this site, I can already see that I have TONS of high value topics for my product sitting right in front of me.

How do I know these topics are LASER FOCUSED and HIGH VALUE?  It’s easy – these are the topics that many forum members are talking about, starting threads on, responding to and viewing.  From the stats given on the forum I can see that there are over 14,000 individual posts on the sub-topic “Wood Finishing.”  The sub-topics in this forum alone have TONS of information.  This will allow me to focus my high value product on one topic.

Now, let’s go a little deeper and look at the things being discussed.  A good way to choose a topic is to either select one that is getting tons of views and replies or selecting the ones where questions are being asked.  For this example, let’s go with the latter.  The questions in the “Wood Finishing” section are things such as:

• Treating plywood for outdoor use?
• Too much stain?
• Steaming the grain?
• Wood filler of choice?
• Finishing a table – what did I do wrong?

What you have in these threads are resident experts answering questions for you.  It really cannot get any easier than that.  Just this step alone has given you topics and information for your high value product.  The next step is to see if these are topics that people actually want to learn more about and are willing to pay for.

Step 2: Consult A Dummy

Have you ever read one of those “XYZ for Dummies” books?  These books are chock-full of information on tons of different niches.  The authors of these books have done a lot of research on the topics being discussed and you can bet that they are all sure winners.  This step is a follow up to step number one, but can be used in place of step one in the event that you cannot find any forums in your niche.  For our topic I just searched for the phrase “woodworking for dummies” and was able to find a book by the same name.

What you should do is visit Amazon.com to take a look at these books.  The reason you want to go to Amazon is because it will let you view the table of contents.  Just click on the link that says “look inside” and this will automatically let you view several pages in the book.  Scroll through the table of contents to get more information for your high value product.

At first glance I can already see that there are three chapters dedicated to my topic of “wood finishing,” so I know this is a topic I can move forward with.  Furthermore, the topics I found in the forum are spot on as the titles of the chapters for the wood finishing section in this book are:

• Sanding and Filling
• Stains and Paints
• Using topcoats to protect your work

Congratulations, the majority of your research work is done!  All you need to do now is organize your research and thoughts and put in on paper or virtual paper at least.

Step 3: Pulling It All Together

At this point you have tons of information to choose from, BUT you cannot cover everything.  You know that your high value product will be on wood finishing, so focus on that specifically.  Looking at the topics from the forum and the dummies guide it seems obvious that it is broken down into three sections – sanding the wood, painting it and then protecting it.  You could easily use this to title your guide, perhaps something along the lines of “Three Steps To Wood Finishing Success,” or something to that effect.

Looking at the forum again I am able to get sub-topics to cover.  How do I know that these are appropriate?  Easy, I know that they are appropriate because these are questions that keep coming up.  And the best part is that there are tons of people already answering the questions.  A quick glance shows me that sub-topics I need to cover when it comes to wood finishing are:

• How much stain to use
• How many coats to use
• What needs to be done between coats
• How long to let it thoroughly dry
• What not to use to wipe down wood when staining
• Problems that can happen with staining

From here all I will need to do is expand on each topic to provide as much information and value as possible.  Now all that is left is to package it up nicely.

Step 4: Wrapping It Up Nice And Neat

What you have now is the raw text and information that will be the basis of your high value product.  If you already have a document creation program then go ahead and use that.  If not, there are many options to choose from.  My personal favorite is Microsoft Word because you can find them on most every computer.  In fact, if you don’t have it on your computer I am willing to bet that you know someone who has it on theirs.  If not, then you can always use a computer at your local library or internet café as most of them will have Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word is a product creator’s dream.  You can find tons of templates that will provide you with a cover sheet, table of contents and a way to create a nice header and footer on each page complete with page numbers.  Add in a disclaimer page and your high value product is ready to go.  Now, once you have saved your document, there is one last thing you can do to give it that professional look – save it as a PDF file.  Most new versions of Microsoft Word will allow you to save a Word Document as a PDF.  You can now sell your high value product, give it away as an opt-in incentive or give it away to your list to keep them happy and coming back for more.  BUT, don’t stop there!  Add even more value!

Step 5: Adding Even More Value

Okay, let’s be real here – not a lot of people like to read.  In fact, with sites like YouTube, many people are opting to watch and listen instead of read.  You can use this to your advantage.  If you have a program on your computer to record audio, then you can read your new guide and give this audio file away as a bonus to your high value product.  If you don’t have this type of software then you can download a free program such as Audacity to do the recording.

If you have software to record audio and video of your computer screen, then you can easily create a video version of your high value product.  Just take the main topics of your product and create a power point slide presentation of it.  As you move through the presentation you can read the text and narrate along with the power point presentation.  Products such as Camtasia are great for doing recordings such as these, but if you don’t have the money to buy it, you can opt for a free version such as Jing.

As you can see, creating a high value product is not that difficult.  If you commit to getting started you could have your product ready in as little as a few hours – seriously.  Just remember the steps:

1. Get topic information from forums within your niche
2. Utilize the Dummies’ books for product topics
3. Focus and organize your information
4. Wrap it up in a readable format (Microsoft Word and PDF)
5. Add more value with audio and/or video

One of the biggest reasons to focus your high value product on one topic such as “wood finishing” as opposed to a broad topic such as “woodworking,” is that it will leave you with many options for follow up products to sell or giveaway.  Stop making excuses for not creating your high value product and put this blueprint into action today!

To learn more about product creation:

Instant Product Creation System